All the published evidence on this website suggests that the existing and genuine stamps showing a plate number 77 very likely originate from other re-engraved plates and not from the plate 77 imprimatur sheets which 'may' have been printed from plate 77. This view has been based on my extensive research into plate 77 and the accepted stamps showing a plate number 77 that are said to have originated from it.

Of course should philatelic research into this subject prove conclusively 'otherwise' then clearly this view will have to be reconsidered. However having published the first work on plate 77 some five years ago, no one to date has come forward with any convincing views, opinions or explanations that would suggest or prove otherwise.

To understand the importance of the roller impressions under investigation here and to make the understanding of the printing procedure easier, it is useful to very briefly outline the order of plate production which led to the printed stamps:

1- A master die with the head, blank corners and no plate numbers was prepared

2- An impression from it was made on the roller and the plate number engraved on it.

3- The roller was used to produce the 240 impressions on the printing plate. The four corner letters were then punched in by hand directly on each impression on the plate.

4- The finished plate was put to press.

Some further reading will be found on this link: http://www.1dplate77.com/1dplate77/1858-791dhistory.htm

An impression from the roller prepared for every plate number 69- 232, including those plates that were not produced was recorded in one volume, presumably for archive purposes and now archived at the British Library. The image below is that of the plate 71 roller impression.

The blind embossing from the plate 71 roller impression made on paper. The number 71 is annotated in black ink next to it. Courtesy of The British Library.

Each impression had the plate number annotated next to it in black ink. The The volume has an original label on the outside "D - Proofs: Recess Dies and Punches, Embossing Do. Do.", although it is referred to as: "Board of Inland Revenue Stamping Department Archive, List 4, Volume 1".

These impressions are therefore a true record of how the plate numbers would have appeared on the printed stamps.

It is extremely fortuitous that we have the only surviving piece of 'philatelic' evidence that can be directly attributed to plate 77 and which is available at the British Library archives. This is the roller impression for plate 77 which was embossed on paper.

Furthermore this wonderful archive volume will also have the only existing impressions, 'images', for plates 69, 70 and 75. These impressions would clearly show us what these stamps would have looked like when printed.

The plate 77 roller impression is therefore the only existing 'image' that is available to us and which can be truly attributed to plate 77. It is illustrated below.

The only other available information on plate 77 is recorded in the 'official' archives and the Perkins Bacon record books. This information can be found on this link.  http://www.1dplate77.com/1dplate77/Plate77details.htm

The object of this unique piece of research is to prove that, as far as one can say, the impression from the plate 77 roller which was used to produce plate 77, which in turn printed the stamps showing a plate number 77, is identical in features to the existing and accepted stamps showing a plate number 77. Should this be the case then this exercise would conclusively prove that these stamps actually originate from it, as is the current belief.

For this study, the roller impressions for plates 71, 73 and 77 were compared with their counterpart stamps printed from these same plate numbers in order to observe any similarities or variations.

It is important to note that apart from weak, broken or incomplete numbers, which is entirely the result of inking variations on the plate, the main shape and position of the plate number is identical on all the stamps showing the same plate number. This is exactly what is expected from stamps printed from the one roller impression. Any major variation in the shape or position of the plate number is therefore a highly irregular occurrence and must be seriously questioned through research as is the case with the number '77' on all the accepted plate 77 stamps.

Plate 71 roller impression has been used in this study due to the very distinctive appearance of the plate numbers.

Conclusion and indications:

It is clearly evident from the images below that the printed stamps from plate 71 and 73 closely match those of the embossed roller impression from which they originate. Yet in the case of stamps showing a plate number '77', they could not be any more different.

This can not be so if the accepted stamps showing a plate number 77 originated form the plate 77 imprimatur sheets, which, by definition, should be identical impressions if printed from plate 77 and the roller impression that produced it.

This can only be another endorsement to the re-engraved plate theory, which is the only other possible origin for the accepted stamps showing a plate number 77.

Some appendices which provide some useful reading on the roller impression and plate production can be found on this link:

http://www.1dplate77.com/1dplate77/appendices.htm

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Mr David Beech and Mr Paul Skinner, The British Library Philatelic Collections, for all their help in providing these extraordinarily wonderful and exceptionally useful images.

The right hand '71' on the right hand panel.

Note the following:

-The figure '7' is very distinctive indeed. It has a weak and  practically non existent top and the mandatory dash next to it. This is mirrored on the printed stamp.

- The figure '7 is also high against the intersection and this again is mirrored on the printed stamp.

-The figure '1' has the mandatory dash to the left of it.

The right hand '73' on the right hand panel.

Note the following:

- The two clear dashes, which form a part of the master die, clearly appear next to each number. The plate number was in fact engraved on the roller impression.

- The position and shape of each number closely matches that on the roller impression. The figure '3' is clear of the intersection and this is mirrored on the printed stamp.

-The figure '7' which is very high against the intersection and clear from it and this is also mirrored on the printed stamp.

The left hand '77' on the left hand panel from the Tapling stamp BA (second image) , the Fletcher stamp PH (third image) and stamps AB (bottom).

Note the following:

-All the '7's are malformed and irregular in shape and look nothing like those on the roller impression.

-All the '7's fall in differing parts of the intersection and nothing like the position of those on the roller impression. The Tapling example, in particular has the right hand '7' which clearly falls on the right hand side of it.

- The left hand '7' is clear of the intersection on the roller and yet it is fused to it on all three stamps.

This can not happen in stamps that originate from one standard impression. They must be identical to the roller

The following link will take you to some published work by E D Bacon on the possible production methods that either were, or were not, adopted, by the printers Perkins Bacon with regard to the 1858-79 four corner letters issue.

E D Bacon on the 'possible' production of the dies and plates for the 1858-79 issue